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Wednesday, March 25, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
KIDS IN PRINT
Sponsored by Kid Made Camp | A Service of The Nugget Newspaper
Unglued from the screen
By T. Lee Brown
Snowed in, or hunkering down while a virus runs its
course, people get <glued= to their screens. Phones,
TVs, computers, and gaming consoles provide
connection, entertainment, and news.
What is life like when you unplug for a while? Not
long ago, students at Sisters Elementary School
found out. Many kids and families tried out Screen
Free Week. There were bingo boards, prizes, and a
special discount night at Hoodoo Ski Bowl.
Lola, Mac, and Bennitt had a lot of fun during Screen Free Week this year.
Photo by TL Brown
Mac Maloney
“I did a puzzle, I listened to some books on
tape, and I played,” Mac Maloney said. “I
thought Screen Free Week was fun.”
Mac was sick during part of the week. It
was tempting to do something on a screen
because he stayed home while everyone
else was at school. He said it felt good to
know that he can control his own behavior.
His mom told him he could watch a movie
because he was sick.
“And I said no,” Mac said proudly.
Lola Magner
Lola usually has consistent screen
time, but she thinks it’s “not too much.
My mom tries to make a balance of it.”
The thing she missed most during
Screen Free Week was a Disney
program she watches regularly.
How did kids feel about it? Kids in Print asked the
fourth graders of Ms. McCord9s class to weigh in on
their experiences.
But she didn’t miss it that much. Lola
enjoyed doing different things instead. “I
played a bunch of board games and had a
couple of dance parties,” she said.
“Normally, I wouldn’t go to the playground,”
she explained. “Normally, I wouldn’t go
there because it’s usually full of little kids.”
It ended up being fun.
Lola compared all this activity to watching
her Disney show: “It actually made my
body feel a lot better. I felt like my brain
was more clear.”
Screen time makes her eyes feel tired,
Lola has noticed, and sometimes she
gets headaches. She said that this didn’t
happen while she was off-screen.
Lola said she wants to change how
she uses technology in the future. “My
mom said that we are going to start only
watching screens on the weekends now,”
she added.
Bennitt Hayes
“We were born in Sisters, Oregon!” hollered
Bennitt with a grin. He described Screen
Free Week as “difficult. You gotta really try
to do it.” He was motivated to win an extra
recess at school.
Bennitt described himself as being
“obsessed with” some new X-Box games.
During SFW, “It was weird at first, but now
I’m playing more Monopoly, playing with
my dog more, playing baseball—doing
a lot more stuff outside than I normally
would.”
How does that feel? “Hard at first, but you
eventually get used to it,” said Bennitt.
Would he do it even without a reward? “I
think like once a month, for three or four
days I might do it.”
Bennitt noticed that his feelings changed
during this time. “I don’t get as mad as
easily,” he said thoughtfully.
Opinions on Screen Free Week
Written by Fourth Grade Students at Sisters Elementary School
I think Screen Free Week is hard and fun!
You get to do fun stuff that you don’t
normally do like watching the sunset, play
a game with your siblings, go for a walk,
and hang out with family. And the reason
why I think that it is hard is because you
might really want to watch a movie with
your family, watch shows about Bigfoot,
or watch a scary movie. Screen Free
Week is supposed to help our brains not
turn to mush, and so we can get a better
education in school, and so we can have
a good paying job. —Emma
I think Screen Free Week is a great
program. It gives our brains some time
to rest. Also, sometimes our brains need
to get away from the bright lights of the
screens. Our brains need to sit back and
relax!
• Play with my puppy
• Play with lots of toys
• Read a lot
Also, I think it might be a little challenging
because the T.V. or screen is just sitting
there wanting to be touched. And why I
think Screen Free Week would be easy
is because you can enjoy your time with
toys, family, friends, and just to sit back
and relax! —Madison
eek is a wonderful
I think Screen Free Week
idea because it gives
kids a break from
screens. Kids spend
a lot of time on
screens every day
and with none of that
for a week, everything
that they may learn
on a screen may be
learned in a book
instead. Some kids
spend so much time on
their screens that they
don’t spend very much
family time. A screen-free week, though,
will prevent that. Also, too much screen
time can be bad for our brains. So, in
conclusion, I think that Screen Free Week
is good for kids and try to challenge your
siblings and parents too. —Ella
